The comedian said he wants to be an MEP "because the NHS is being privatised and I feel like 'who is stepping forward and telling people about it' and nobody is".

He announced the news on Jonathan Ross's show, teasing that he had a secret to share.

When the host joked that Rufus was going to come out, the comedy star replied: " If I was gay I would be completely super proud of that! What I am about to come out about is worse. I think I'm going to run as an MEP... I'm as confused by this as you are."

Rufus, 34, later expanded on his plans to enter the political arena in a blog post.

He confirmed: " In May, I will be standing as a prospective Member of the European Parliament, and doing so for The National Health Action Party.

"For anyone who follows me on Twitter, I doubt that my party of choice will come as too much of a surprise. I've been tweeting endlessly over the past few months about the dangers the NHS currently faces, but over Christmas, something changed. My wife - similarly passionate - suggested that we were becoming 'those people'. Those people who whinge on and on, wringing hands and asking 'But why isn't somebody doing something?!' - instead of actually doing something.

"So, we decided that we'd do something. We just didn't know what. Neither of us imagined it would involve one of us becoming a... politician."